The U.S. Air Force wants to buy thousands of iPad 2s for crews that fly cargo aircraft, according to “TabTimes” (http://macte.ch/sP9kC).
The goal: to replace the paper charts and technical manuals the crews now have to carry, the article adds. The Air Force’s Air Mobility Command’s (AMC) planned purchase could be the largest single federal order for a tablet, according to the site “NextGov” (http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/), which reported on the deal after seeing a notice at the Federal Business Opportunities website.
The notice said AMC wants to buy “a minimum of 63 and a maximum of 18,000, iPad 2, Brand Name or Equal devices” for cargo aircraft such as the C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster.
“NextGov” also says that Teri Takai, the Defense Department’s chief information officer, kicked off a speech at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Cyberspace Symposium on Wednesday by asking, “Everyone wants an iPad, right?” She then implied “quick deployment of tablet computers and smartphones across the department without defining the timeline,” the article adds.